March/April - University of Toronto's Undergraduate Pharmacy Society

Meditation and
Medication: Yoga’s
Role in Healthcare
By: Zenah Surani, 1T2
Over this past school year, I acquired
a new addiction. It gives me lots of energy,
relieves stress, and it makes me break out
into a shirt-drenching sweat. Best of all,
it’s not a harmful one. In fact, it may just
be one of the most powerful systems of
health and well-being out there. I’m talking
about yoga. Western medicine is generally
governed by the appearance of symptoms.
However, yoga deals with health in a far
more holistic way. It envisions health as
a state of being—only when your bodily
systems are being used to their optimal
function are they aligned, and in turn, you
are then at your highest state of health.
It truly connects the mind, body, and
soul—in stretching your muscles, you are
directly feeding into your nervous system
and creating peace of mind. Certain poses
performed and pranayama (breathing)
with practice can positively impact the
cardiovascular system, boost the immune
system, and improve digestion. This
connectivity can be translated to the
body—it is possible to improve one body
system by trying to improve all of them.
Yoga is definitely not just for people
who are super flexible and athletic.
Although there are occasionally some
superstars at the yoga studio I go to, the
vast majority of us are just normal people.
I have a hard time with the floor poses (yintype
poses). Some have trouble touching
their toes in a forward bend or with
balancing poses. However, the
challenge appeals to me, and seeing
my progress over the past year has
been satisfying, to say the least.
The difference between a flexible
person and a less flexible person
is that the former has to work
harder to feel the same stretch.
A big part of the yoga
experience is the breathing
(pranayama). Ashtanga yoga, a vigorous
form of yoga originating in Mysore, India,
encourages the practice of the ujjayi breath.
This is closed-mouth breathing, imitating
the deep, throaty breath of Darth Vader.
One should be able to feel the breath as
it passes the back of the throat, and with
practice, this type of breathing should be
silent. When we are stressed, we tend to
breathe quickly. Shallow, rapid breaths
deliver less air to the alveoli, leading to
decreased oxygen saturation of the blood.
Yogis take fewer breaths of greater volume,
calming their nervous systems, increasing
their exercise capacity and blood oxygen
saturation.
A study performed at a university
in Benares, India, found that yoga
was beneficial for the depressed. A
yoga group and a comparison group
given antidepressants showed similar
improvements in neurotransmitter levels
- a great rise in serotonin levels and a
decrease in monoamine oxidase and
cortisol (the ‘stress hormone’) levels.
Stress can lead to intestinal problems
like diarrhea, constipation or even IBS.
Yoga postures such as twists wring out
venous blood from internal organs, such as
the large intestine, improving oxygenated
blood flow to those organs once the twist
is relieved. This can help to alleviate
these problems by helping food and waste
products make their way down the large
intestine normally. Practices learned in
yoga can also be taken outside the studio
to everyday life. For instance, when we are
doing a particularly tough posture at the
studio, the teacher often tells the class to
unclench our jaws, un-squint
our eyes, and to scan
our bodies for any
tension and to
‘ b r e a t h
i n t o
that tension’ to relieve it. Similarly, stress
we experience in everyday life can cause
us to tighten up the muscles in our face
and clench our jaws. Before I started
practicing yoga, I didn’t even realize I
did this! This can lead to a worsening of
stress level and mood, and may even lead
to chronic muscle fatigue and soreness.
Learning these stress-relieving techniques
from regular yoga practice, I’ve realized
that things that used to stress me out no
longer do.
Finally, as students, we often have
many things on our minds, whether it’s
school, weekend plans, personal issues, or
even class gossip. Yoga helps with spiritual
growth. Dukha, or suffering, is different
from physical pain. Pain sometimes cannot
be avoided, but suffering (in yogic terms)
depends on your state of mind. Thoughts
and emotions from the past, for instance,
can hinder healing and foster discontent.
While practicing yoga, you have no choice
but to focus on the postures you are doing
since most of the time, they are quite
challenging. In doing this, your mind must
concentrate, almost forgetting about what
has happened that day. At the end of the
class your stress and issues are still there,
but you are now ready to take them on
with a renewed sense of self and peace of
mind.
Healthcare professionals often
recommend yoga practice as a nonpharmalogical
therapy to their patients
with ailments such as arthritis, HIV/AIDS,
cancer, back pain, and a host of others
because of its proven physical and mental
benefits. Although January 1 st seems like a
long way away, it’s not too late to make a
resolution! Grab a mat and take up yoga!
Whether its Ashtanga, Hatha, Vinyasa or
Yin—you are sure to find a style that you
enjoy and that will make you feel great. It
may even become your new addiction! M
Reference:
McCall, Timothy, M.D. “Yoga as
Medicine: The Yogic Prescription
for Health and Healing.”
B a n t a m
B o o k s
N e w
Yo r k ,
2007.
The Monograph - March 2010 11